


Hunger

by redroseinsanity



Series: Hold your breath, count to ten [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Body Horror, M/M, Mild Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:54:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27135541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redroseinsanity/pseuds/redroseinsanity
Summary: A monster.That's what others see his best friend as.Hajime knows he's just insatiable.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Series: Hold your breath, count to ten [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980692
Comments: 13
Kudos: 39
Collections: Haikyuu Horror Week





	Hunger

**Author's Note:**

> For Haikyuu Horror Week 2020!
> 
> This is my first time writing horror so I’m excited but also apologetic if this is not on par with your expectations. In that vein, I’m not sure if I’m tagging this as well as I should be, so if at any point you feel like you want to nope out, please do!

**Day 2:**

**it won’t stop growing / ~~the earth cracking beneath your feet~~ / the beast breaks loose /** **~~the glimmer of treasure in a cursed tomb~~ / the path to victory / ~~three years~~**

A monster. 

Hajime knows that's what others see his best friend as. 

Someone who never seems to tire, who never seems to falter, invincible and indomitable, who goes beyond comprehensible human limits to become a demon on the court. 

Hajime knows he's just insatiable. 

That there's a thirst for victory that cannot be slaked, that for Oikawa Tooru, being the best is never good enough. He needs to be the ultimate, to climb higher than anyone ever has and then keep going. 

It's never enough for Oikawa. It's what makes him so terrifying and so admirable, and Hajime loathes it while finding himself helplessly charmed by it. 

Because Hajime also knows that Oikawa is only human. He tires but doesn't let himself show it, or admit it, he just pushes through the burn in his muscles and the fatigue clouding his lungs, forcing his body onwards, higher. 

He's afraid too, of all the things out of his control, and Hajime has seen his mind bend to the point of breaking, to the point that Oikawa Tooru is a walking, talking cell formation of anxiety and doubt. 

Oikawa may seem as though he is unbreakable, but Hajime has seen him shatter and Hajime was there when he pieced himself back together, got back on his feet and stepped into the court, more infallible than before. 

It's breathtaking and terrifying and utterly irresistible—to know that Oikawa is, at the heart of it all, only human. 

And Oikawa hates it. Hajime knows how much Oikawa detests this, the knowledge that his body can fail him, the constant struggle with his mind to maintain the upper hand and keep it from controlling him. 

Oikawa abhors this failure of his body, of himself. It's a private grievance that Hajime has been privy to, he has seen the wildness of his best friend's eyes and the desperation in the tension of his muscles, in the trajectory of his sets. 

So when he stumbles upon an Oikawa that's covered in dirt and blood one afternoon, he can't say he's completely surprised. 

"Iwa-chan," The person that looks like his best friend murmurs, eyes wide and unseeing; there's hardly any white left in his eyes, all Hajime can see is a liquid inkyness that spreads as Oikawa blinks.

"Oikawa," He keeps his tone even, his voice calm, despite his hands trembling and the thundering beat of his heart, "What's going on?"

"Iwa-ch-" Oikawa flinches mid-word and chokes, crumpling to the mossy forest floor. They're not far from the nearest house, Hajime can run and- and- And what? Seek safety? Ask for help? 

Instead he drops to his knees, carefully shifting ancient, tattered pages away as Oikawa heaves a breath that sounds like he's drowning. 

"There's a way," Oikawa gasps out, fingers digging into the soil as he lurches as though hit by some invisible force, "I found this a while back."

Hajime narrows his eyes, frown deepening as he skims through the strange papers that Oikawa had gestured at. 

The occult. Of course Oikawa had turned to something so extreme to go where no one else had gone. 

A final, guttural growl is ripped from Oikawa's lips as his back arches and then curves, before distending in a manner not physically possible. Hajime will never forget how it looks for his best friend to look like a shell that something is trying to hatch from, can never erase the image of something bony and angular punching out of Oikawa's back and stretching the skin until he can see the outline of claws or fingers. 

Then he collapses, panting, his lashes damp and darkness smeared over his skin to the point that Hajime can't differentiate between the blood and the dirt. 

Then Oikawa turns, rolling so that he can gaze up at Hajime, who is so numb now he probably couldn't stand if he wanted to. And Oikawa grins, his mouth bloody and dark red staining the brilliant white. 

"I'm going to be unbeatable," He whispers and Hajime feels every hair stand. Even so, he can't help himself but to reach for his best friend, he can't stop his hands from brushing leaves and twigs off Oikawa and although his hands are shaking, he stretches them out and smooths it over fabric and skin. As though he can convince himself that this is still the person he knows by running his hands over what should be familiar lines of Oikawa's body. 

Nothing much changes and everything changes. Oikawa looks the same, smiles the same, plays better than before. 

But he eats more, has a shorter temper and sometimes, Hajime catches him in a strange state of being completely still and unbearably tense, and he can't tell if it's pain or something worse. 

He's not sure if he wants to know. 

There's something else in his best friend and Oikawa is feeding it his ambition that acts like steroids. Oikawa eats almost without swallowing now, more meat, as rare as possible, and he shovels the food in without seeming to taste it, the bloody juice drying on his plate.

Just the mindless, base need to fill a void that is never filled, a thing that is expanding faster than Oikawa can keep up with. 

Oikawa sets with an unholy precision and he breathes harder, almost like whatever he's hosting is pressing against his lungs, rapidly burgeoning until the fragile body of muscle and skin and flesh strains to contain it. 

Oikawa never gets tired but his face is gaunt, the bruises under his eyes alarming, as though the endless energy on the court drains him only after he steps off it. 

Perhaps the worst is, Oikawa withdraws from Hajime in a gradual drift that starts with a vacancy in his eyes whenever they're together and ends with time spent just watching Oikawa nourish whatever entity he summoned with his own life force. 

Hajime watches his best friend waste away even as he blooms, in mute horror, he witnesses Oikawa shrivel and wither while something else takes his place, pushing out of his skin as though it is merely air and Oikawa is a balloon. 

Oikawa was right, he's entirely unbeatable now. He's inhumanely fast, impossibly strong, every single movement is tethered to perfect control and all this is fuelled by a battery that never dies. 

Except Hajime doesn't know where the person he knew has gone, he's somewhere in there but there's no Oikawa left. 

Sometimes he catches slip ups. The way Oikawa's jaw opens a bit too wide to take a bite, practically unhinging, a cavernous maw that is always hungry. 

Or the ripples across his skin as though the _thing_ is trying to fit into clothing that is too small, clothing that will stretch or tear eventually. 

They win, of course. They win and they win and they win. 

The crowd goes wild as the ball bounces with a finality and their teammates are crowding them and now Hajime can't refute it, doesn't know how to. Oikawa holds himself somewhat apart from it all, a certain kind of satisfied disdain painted on his face. 

_A monster._

Over the heads of their teammates, only Hajime sees the haze of darkness clouding Oikawa's eyes, until there is nothing but blood red. 

And Oikawa winks. 

**Author's Note:**

> I should also be posting concurrently on [tumblr](https://redroseinsanity.tumblr.com/) as well. Come say hi!


End file.
